Ep. 31 Forgotten Legacy Chapter Three
The party talks with Eladrin, Beric and Drakir's father. He tells them of a ritual that might bring Beric back, if they can find him a Khyber dragonshard, and the party sets out to retreive one. Synopsis Eladrin Dex, Therudak, and Drakir have made it to Drakir's shaman. After seeing the body of Beric, Eladrin, the shaman, falls to his knees and asks what's happened to his son. After the moment of shock has passed at learning that Drakir is Beric's half-brother, Dak and Dex explain what happened with the lycanthropes. Drakir impatiently asks about the sword, and Eladrin tells him to quiet. At that Eladrin finally notices the sword and he recoils, muttering, "No, not him." Dex asks what that means - has the sword been lying to them this whole time? Eladrin explains that it's just too much for anyone to wield. He collects himself and asks them to bring the body over to his table and starts walking away, Booyah in tow. As Dex and Therudak follow him they notice a framed drawn portrait of a woman bearing a striking resemblance to Beric. Eladrin tells them he's been working with on some experiments with magic, but the time table will have to move up rather rapidly. There might be a chance to save Beric, and hopefully they can detach him from the sword in the process. He reaches down and takes the Eberron dragonshard from Booyah and sets it on the table, and tells them he needs a Khyber shard to complete the ritual. He knows where some grow but it's deep underground in Khyber. With no hesitation Dex says he's willing to try anything, but he doesn't know what to look for. Eladrin tells him Drakir will point it out to him; he's going with them. Dex and Drakir both object. Eladrin slams a fist on the table and tells Drakir to watch his tone. The sword is of little consequence to the fight here. Drakir argues that it's a weapon; they're here for weapons. Beric ate poison and died; the sword can be used to save their people. Eladrin warns him to not talk about his brother that way, and tells him he can't comprehend the sword, which he's only heard tall tales about from his mother. The sword has a mind of its own and will not help in the fight. The point of going into Khyber is to save a soul, a soul that will help them save their home. Drakir is suspicious and can tell he's not being entirely truthful. Dex interrupts and offers his help in the fight if they bring Beric back. Dak comments that they're getting him back whether Drakir helps or not. Eladrin scoffs and says in spite of his other son's simple view of the world, he'll be useful for getting into Khyber. He knows the ways, and he's skilled with his Shadowblades. Drakir doesn't want to go into Khyber with them, and Eladrin reminds him that he's here because his mother sent him upon Eladrin's request. The two argue and Drakir questions Eladrin's commitment to their cause. Eladrin responds that he went to the surface to find weapons to help their people. "And you became distracted," Drakir says, looking pointedly at the body. Eladrin gives a big speech about loving Drakir and promises that once he does this one last job, Drakir won't have to take orders from him again. Eladrin tells them to leave Beric's remains behind; he and Booyah will prepare the ritual. Booyah hands out healing potions and everyone heads out. Anti-Magic Field Near the back of the cavern is an opening about four feet wide. It's very steep and becomes pitch black very quickly. As they travel the cave closes around them to the point that they're practically having to rock climb downward. The walls are wet and covered with slime, and when they reach out for a handhold they occasionally feel something soft, as if there are things growing on the walls. It opens up after about forty-five minutes of climbing and they come out onto a pathway. Faint orange light reflects off the caves walls, and as they head towards the source they come into a cavern with a river of lava flowing through the center, about twenty feet wide. A narrow five-foot bridge made out of natural stone leads to the other side. There's a cluster of Khyber dragonshards on the other side of the lava, about thirty feet in. Drakir uses his Primeval Awareness to sense aberrations around him. There's one about sixty feet away and above. He looks and sees a hole in the ceiling above where the shards are, and tells Dex and Dak that there's probably a creature hiding in there. He uses Dancing Lights and moves them towards the crystal. Once they get below the hole they dissipate. He uses Detect Magic to try to figure out why, but sense nothing. Deciding they need the shards whether or not there's danger, Dak starts walking across the bridge. Dex doesn't want him to go alone and follows. Drakir hesitates for a moment, then grudgingly follows, staying a little behind. He's okay with Dak triggering whatever is about to be triggered while he's at a safe distance. He takes the precaution of summoning his Shadowblades. As soon as Dak and Dex reach the other side, Dex's human shape falls away, revealing the white skinned, generally featureless changeling. They both look at Dex with confusion, and Drakir nods knowingly, saying they're in some kind of anti-magic field. The Beholder They hear ominous laughter, and from the hole descends a beholder; a large spherical shaped creature with one large eye and stalks coming off of it's body, ending in smaller eyes. The creature's laughter continues as he anticipates the fun he's about to have. Drakir explains the legend of the beholder to Therudak and Dex; he's never fought one before, but he knows that if one looks at you, it takes your magic away. Knowing this, the first thing he does is dodge sideways to get out of sight of the creature and throws his Shadowblades at it. A ray of purple energy shoots out and the beholder tells Drakir to take it easy, but Drakir gets out of the way right as it hits the ground. The beholder grits its teeth and snarls that if he won't take it easy, he can run away instead. A yellow ray shoots out and Drakir easily steps out of the way, which angers the beholder further. Dex runs at it and claws it right in the eye. It recoils and shouts in anger as its eye rolls around and locks onto Dex. "You lesser beings have to right to touch me." One of the eyestalks shoots a bright ray of white light out and hits the bridge, and the stone disintegrates, leaving a ten foot gap. Therudak runs over, leaps off of Dex towards the beholder, and slices that same eyestalk right off. The beholder screams with anger and blue light shoots out and wraps around Dak, but he manages to shake it off. His dragonmark starts glowing with blue light. Drakir moves around behind the beholder into melee range and strikes at it. He gets one hit in and the other two are deflected by it's stalks. It whirls around and the same eyestalk that shot a blue light at Dak focuses on Drakir. A blue energy grabs him and pins his arms to his sides and lifts him into the air. Once in the line of sight of the creature, his Shadowblades disappear. The beholder wheels back to face Dex, holding Drakir out in front of him. He opens his giant mouth and his teeth sink into the changeling. Dex bites him back, saying, "Screw you, buddy," and follows up with, "a bear's mouth is a something something something something." The beholder starts bleeding from the wound and is stunned for a moment. Dak feels the energy coursing through him and swings at the stalk holding Drakir. When the blade hits, the blue energy drains from his mark and the beholder loses its grip on Drakir, throwing him against the wall near the shards. Drakir rights himself and reforms his blades, stabbing both into the monster's body. The beholder rights itself and a ray of black energy comes out and hits Dak. He feels exhaustion sweep over him, but manages to shake it off. Dak swings at the beholder again. Black energy flows out as the sword makes contact and it erupts in bright daylight (which Drakir does not appreciate). The eye of the beholder explodes out of the socket as its skin pulses and it slumps onto the ground in a heap of flesh and steam. Dex tells Drakir to go stab its head and throw it into the river or whatever weird thing he does, and notices Drakir is on the ground. Therudak asks what's wrong, and Drakir spits out, "Daylight." Once recovered enough, they use Drakir's mining tools and after about thirty minutes they get the shards out. As they wrench it free they hear from behind them condescending clapping and a voice says, "Well done." Locations * Xen'drik * Khyber Spells * Dex ** Light * Drakir ** Dancing Lights ** Detect Magic Quotes 0:08:43 0:11:49 0:24:14 0:33:30 Trivia * First appearance of Belashyrra. Category:Xen'drik Category:Episodes